The present invention relates to a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus for storing in it and recording and/or reproducing a plurality of discs.
As a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus mounted on a vehicle for the purpose of playing a sound, there is a disc player. Such a disc player uses a method of storing a plurality of discs, for example, compact discs (hereinafter referred to as CDs) in a magazine and replacing a plurality of CDs in one magazine together at a time. Due to this, since it is made large-sized, its main body portion is stored in a trunk, while only portions necessary for operation are installed in a passenger compartment. However, since CDs cannot be replaced when a vehicle is traveling, it is necessary to stop the vehicle and open the trunk for the replacement, and this is troublesome.
Due to this, an on-vehicle disc player to be put in a vehicle compartment has been developed in recent years. An on-vehicle disc player is demanded to store a plurality of CDs in it and is put in a specified space of the dashboard in a passenger compartment. Therefore, it has been an important problem to make an on-vehicle disc player small-sized.
Such an on-vehicle disc player forms a disc storing portion by stacking one over another, for example, six trays (disc carrying means) each carrying a CD on it in an enclosure (case) being nearly in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped having a fixed size called size 1 DIN or the like for example, and makes it possible to individually insert and eject the six CDs and makes it possible to select and reproduce one out of the six CDs.
However, since the on-vehicle disc player must contain in it a plurality of CDs and components related to control of the respective mechanisms for performing many operations such as insertion, ejection, reproducing (recording) and the like of a CD, it has been difficult to make the whole apparatus small-sized.
An object of the present invention is to provide a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus simplified in composition and made small in size.
A disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus of the present invention is characterized by a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising: a disc storing portion having a plurality of disc carrying means each having a disc placed on it, the disc carrying means being stacked one over another; a driving portion which is apart by a specified distance from the disc carrying means in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the disc carrying means, faces the disc storing portion, is disposed so as to move in the same direction as the stacking direction, and holds and rotationally drives a disc; a first control plate which moves in a direction nearly perpendicular to the stacking direction of the disc carrying means and makes the disc storing portion and the driving portion move in the stacking direction; a space forming means which makes a disc carrying means adjacent to a desired disc carrying means in the disc storing portion move in the stacking direction and forms a specified space at least at one side of the desired disc carrying means in the stacking direction; and a second control plate which is coupled to the space forming means and moves in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction.
Further, a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus of the present invention is characterized by a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising: a disc storing portion having a plurality of disc carrying means each having a disc placed on it, the disc carrying means being stacked one over another; a driving portion which is apart by a specified distance from the disc carrying means in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the disc carrying means, faces the disc storing portion, is provided so as to move in the same direction as the stacking direction, and holds and rotationally drives a disc; a first control plate which moves in a direction nearly perpendicular to the stacking direction of the disc carrying means and makes the disc storing portion and the driving portion move in the stacking direction; a space forming means which makes a disc carrying means adjacent to a desired disc carrying means in the disc storing portion move in the stacking direction and forms a specified space at least at one side of the desired disc carrying means in the stacking direction; and a second control plate which is coupled to the space forming means and moves in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction; wherein the first control plate has a position control portion for controlling the disc storing portion and the driving portion to move to desired positions in the stacking direction according to the distance of its movement.
Further, a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus of the present invention is characterized by a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising: a disc storing portion having a plurality of disc carrying means each having a disc placed on it, the disc carrying means being stacked one over another; a driving portion which is apart by a specified distance from the disc carrying means in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the disc carrying means, faces the disc storing portion, is provided so as to move in the same direction as the stacking direction, and holds and rotationally drives a disc; a first control plate which moves in a direction nearly perpendicular to the stacking direction of the disc carrying means and makes the disc storing portion and the driving portion move in the stacking direction; a space forming means which makes a disc carrying means adjacent to a desired disc carrying means in the disc storing portion move in the stacking direction and forms a specified space at least at one side of the desired disc carrying means in the stacking direction; and a second control plate which is coupled to the space forming means and moves in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction; wherein the second control plate has a mode changeover portion having a specified length for changing over the operation mode of the first control plate between a mode for moving the disc storing portion and a mode for moving only the driving portion.
Further, a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus of the present invention is characterized by a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising: a disc storing portion having a plurality of disc carrying means each having a disc placed on it, the disc carrying means being stacked one over another; a driving portion which is apart by a specified distance from the disc carrying means in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the disc carrying means, faces the disc storing portion, is provided so as to move in the same direction as the stacking direction, and holds and rotationally drives a disc; a first control plate which moves in a direction nearly perpendicular to the stacking direction of the disc carrying means and makes the disc storing portion and the driving portion move in the stacking direction; a space forming means which makes a disc carrying means adjacent to a desired disc carrying means in the disc storing portion move in the stacking direction and forms a specified space at least at one side of the desired disc carrying means in the stacking direction; and a second control plate which is coupled to the space forming means and moves in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction; wherein the space forming means and the second control plate are coupled to each other so that they can move in the stacking direction.
Further, a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus of the present invention is characterized by a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising: a disc storing portion having a plurality of disc carrying means each having a disc placed on it, the disc carrying means being stacked one over another; a driving portion which is apart by a specified distance from the disc carrying means in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction of the disc carrying means, faces the disc storing portion, is provided so as to move in the same direction as the stacking direction, and holds and rotationally drives a disc; a first control plate which moves in a direction nearly perpendicular to the stacking direction of the disc carrying means and makes the disc storing portion and the driving portion move in the stacking direction; a space forming means which makes a disc carrying means adjacent to a desired disc carrying means in the disc storing portion move in the stacking direction and forms a specified space at least at one side of the desired disc carrying means in the stacking direction; and a second control plate which is coupled to the space forming means and moves in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction; wherein the first control plate comprises a pair of the first control plates being driven by a first driving source and the second control plate comprises a pair of the second control plates being driven by a second driving source.